


Grass isn't always greener

by Babamacska



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Best Friends, Chat Noir Needs A Hug, Chloé is mentioned, Protective Ladybug, Sad Chat Noir, and blind, only because they're oblivious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-09-13 10:49:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16891149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babamacska/pseuds/Babamacska
Summary: Marinette finds herself worried about Chat when he doesn't show up to patrol.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> short chapter but I'm literally running on minimal sleep here, so idk. 
> 
> Also! Feel free to check out my tumblr page (lelektoro). You're welcome to message me anytime.
> 
> Enjoy I guess.

Marinette could appreciate a lot of things in life. Like the way the air smelled after it rained, freshly baked cookies, the way Alya’s face pinched in concentration when she was working on the Ladyblog, or the rush she got when zipping through Paris as Ladybug. But this, she could never appreciate.

Physics homework.

Nope. Never.

She groaned and sank further in her chair giving her worksheet a final look. It was a mess of writing, scribbles, and eraser marks, but it would do. She was just glad it was done, now she could focus on getting ready for patrol. Marinette glanced at the clock.

“Tikki!” Marinette gasped. “I’m late for patrol!” 

“Don’t worry Marinette,” the spotted kwami sat on her desk watching her as she shoved her papers and books into her pack for tomorrow, “Chat can handle patrol alone.”

“I know, but I feel bad. I completely lost track of time.” She rushed around the little room, gathering her things for tomorrow so she would have less to do for the morning. “Okay! Spots on!” Once she donned her signature red and black suit she opened her window and leapt. 

Running as fast as she could, she hoped that Chat would still be at today’s meeting spot atop the Arc de Triomphe. Jumping from one roof to the next, Marinette looked down at her yoyo, but there weren’t any missed messages from her partner. Slinging it out to the side of herself, she caught onto a balcony and swung up to the higher roof tops, giving her a view of her destination. A few more well-placed swings and leaps had her on the monument, catching her breath. Spinning in a quick circle she scanned for Chat. He wasn’t there anymore. A quick look over the sides ruled out a possible sneak attack, which her partner was fond of. 

“Great, tonight is just not my night.” She sighed, perking her ears to hear any form of witty response, just in case. 

Chat liked to play games and could be very good at hiding. No response. She flipped her yoyo to the call screen and waited for her partners answer, but there wasn’t one. 

“Of course not. Why would you pick up? You love a game of cat and mouse.” Snapping it shut she was off again, deciding to run the regular route from the beginning, rather than trying to guess wherever her silly kitty would be.

She had no doubt that she would meet him along the way, his hearing was exceptional, once he heard her coming he’d wait for her to catch up. 

Half way through the route she stopped to call again, only to be left with similar results. She frowned. She should have caught up by now, and he should be answering his calls. Unless he was caught up in something, stopping a mugging maybe. Continuing with her surveillance of Paris and her search for her partner, Ladybug couldn’t help but let her thoughts get the best of her. 

Could he have taken a different route than usual? Maybe he went looking for her when she didn’t show. Another half hour with no sign of Chat, she tried reaching him again, when her third attempt of contact was met with no response her thoughts took a darker turn.

Maybe he had gotten hurt while patrolling. Or an akuma did show up before she got there and had taken him. 

No! Don’t be ridiculous Marinette. You would have noticed an akuma by now. She shook her head and tried to go back to less serious thoughts. However, when she made it to the end of their route with no sign of Chat Noir anywhere, she couldn’t help but be antsy.

It was Wednesday, they were supposed to meet up on Wednesdays, or at least that’s what they had agreed upon. She made her way back through the area she came from, dodging off to the sides here and there to check out little spots they liked to frequent. By the time she made it back to the Arc de Triomphe there was still nothing and she had been out for an extra two hours.

Don’t worry, she took a deep breath, if he was out tonight he is definitely at home now. It’s late Marinette, go home and sleep. That’s what Chat is probably doing right now. Exhale.

She didn’t release her transformation until she was back on her balcony. Slipping into her room she grabbed a cookie for her kwami. Tikki hummed appreciatively before she munched happily on the treat, keeping a close eye on her chosen. She looked too tense. 

Once Tikki had finished her cookie she floated up to Marinette, who was slipping under the covers. 

“Why so quiet Marinette?” She took up her spot upon the teenager’s stomach settling for sleep as well. 

“Chat wasn’t there tonight. I know I was late, but I thought I would have run into him at the very least.” She squirmed around trying to get comfortable. “I can’t stop thinking that something might have happened to him.” She admitted. 

She felt the soft pressure of Tikki leave her stomach as she flew up and nuzzled her cheek, settling into the crook of her neck. 

“Don’t worry Marinette. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“I know. I’m just being silly, he’s my age, right? He was probably caught up in homework like I was, and never got out.” That was solid reasoning. 

Yeah. Homework.

She just needed to go to sleep and then tomorrow would be a new day. If she was lucky she’d see him before their next patrol and she’d feel like a complete loser worrying so much. Wait no, if she saw him before next patrol that would mean an akuma attack. She didn’t want that for the people of Paris.

Since when did she care so much about her partner’s whereabouts anyway. Sure, she cared about him, she couldn’t do this without him, but there were other times when he didn’t show for patrol without warning. He always claimed his civilian life simply got in the way, and he was sorry. She always forgave him too, because nothing ever happened when he was gone, and he always showed up when it was important. There was no reason for her to be fretting over this so much. She was going to give her kitty the lecture of lifetime the next time she saw him though.

Her kitty? She gave a frustrated groan and swore she heard Tikki giggle beside her. 

She took it back. Next time she saw Chat, she was going to murder him. Served him right for doing this to her. 

Sleep would help her stop thinking about it.

Too bad she never got to get any, as her alarm went off a few hours later, thoughts running unleashed and rampant through her head.

She walked to school as rumpled as ever, thankful for laying out her things last night so she didn’t have to do it this morning. A smile only found its way to her face when she saw Alya waiting by the stairs of the school waving to her.

Alya would certainly keep her mind off a certain feline.

“Hey girl! What’s up, you’re looking a little rough today.” 

“I didn’t get any sleep,” Marinette admitted as they made their way into their class room and sat at their desk. 

“Bad dream?” 

“No. Just had a lot on my mind.”

“Adrien related stuff?” Alya smirked as Marinette’s face flushed.

“NO!” Marinette looked around to make sure no one had been listening and hunched closer to her best friend, who leaned in as she whispered, “not so loud. What if someone heard you?” Alya rolled her eyes at her best friend’s antics. As if anyone in their class didn’t know about her feelings for the blond boy, in fact the only one who couldn’t seem to catch on is the boy himself. She was going to have to talk to Nino about that. Honestly, there was no way Adrien could be that clueless, he was a smart guy. Straight A’s across the board, she supposed the many tutors his father got him helped that though.

Speaking of the two boys, Alya waved hello to them as she saw them enter through the door. She didn’t get much of a reaction however, as Nino and Adrien were hunched close together, focusing only on what they were saying to each other. Adrien looked just as bad as Marinette. Rumpled, exhausted, maybe even a little frustrated? As they got closer to the two girls he shushed Nino, affectively ending whatever conversation they had been having, and took their seats in front of them. It was all very suspicious and Alya was never one to let a fresh scoop die.

“Hey guys, what’s all the hush-hush about, huh?” Adrien was quick to respond with a muffled ‘nothing, don’t worry about it’ as he buried his head in his arms folded on top of the desk. Both girls exchanged a look of concern before turning to Nino. Alya raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend and gestured to the blond in a silent question. Nino shrugged and typed a short message on his phone as Mrs. Bustier greeted the class. Alya tilted her phone so Marinette could read the text.

Talk @ lunch, it read. 

Marinette couldn’t focus in class. School and her friends were supposed to help keep her from worrying about her partner, and they did, by making her worry about Adrien instead. Sitting right behind him gave her a good vantage point to keep an eye on his odd behavior. She hadn’t seen him look so…messy before. He had picked himself up to take notes as their teacher began her lesson, but they were short and mostly resembled incoherent scribbles that didn’t amount to much, until he stopped taking notes all together and seemed to just zone out. He was slouched in his seat, keeping his head propped up in his palm. He was wearing a pair of black tapered joggers and a grey hoodie a size too big for him. It looked just as fashionable as anything else he wore, no doubt designer. It wasn’t his typical style though, this was completely different. 

Marinette kept glancing at the clock throughout class, trying to count down the time until lunch, where she could get some answers. Alya elbowed her twice already, trying to refocus her on class. Her lack of sleep certainly wasn’t helping anything. 

Once they were dismissed for lunch the raven-haired girl practically flung herself from her seat and out the room, dragging Alya with her. They made a hasty stop at their lockers and grabbed food before finding a nice spot with plenty of sun to eat and chat. A couple minutes passed before Nino was collapsing next to Alya, rummaging in his lunch box with a pinched look on his face.

“Chloe dragged my man away before I could.” He shrugged. “She said she was going to cheer him up, but I don’t think she knows what’s up with him, you know,” another shrug. “At least she noticed I guess.” Alya poked him in his side.

“What IS up?”

“I’m not really sure. He wouldn’t talk to me about it. Like, I noticed right away something was wrong, it’s kind of obvious,” he took the girl’s nods as a sign to continue, “but he was getting all annoyed when I kept trying to press the matter. If he hasn’t told me, I doubt he told Chloe, of all people, what’s going on.” The last part was said more as an afterthought. 

“Really, nothing?”

“Yeah! I totally told him he could tell me anything, and he already knows that, but he basically told me to drop it!” 

“Do you think he’s okay?” Marinette wondered aloud, drawing the attention of her friends.

“I don’t know. He totally blew me off this morning which is so unlike him. Not to mention he was zoning in class. I’ve never seen him do that before! He’s definitely not himself, that’s for sure.”

“Don’t worry guys,” Alya placated, “Adrien knows that we’re here for him if he wants to talk. I’m sure he’s fine. Probably just over worked and the stress of it all is just catching up to him. I mean, you guys have seen his schedules. He barely has anytime to himself to relax.” She had a point. But Marinette couldn’t help but feel like there wasn’t something quite right about all of this. Yeah, he was overworked like Alya said, but that was nothing new. He was always busy. And since as long as she has known him, he’s always faced it with acceptance and a good attitude. To suddenly react so strongly would be odd. Nino seemed to be having similar thoughts, as the pinched and thoughtful look appeared back on his face. Even Alya didn’t sound super convinced at her own words, but there wasn’t much else that could be said on the matter until Adrien decided to open up more on the subject.

The second part of the day didn’t get any better for Marinette as her focus kept coming back to the boy sitting in front of her. She noticed that he seemed more agitated after lunch, unable to stop fidgeting in his seat. Chloe’s doing most likely. She probably pressed the matter like Nino had, but unlike Nino didn’t know when to stop. She caught both Nino and Alya casting more glances toward Adrien in the second part of the day as well. She thought she even saw Mrs. Bustier shoot him a concerned look too, but she could have imagined that. At one point, during the last half hour of class, Adrien started to bounce his leg repeatedly and rapidly, no one else but the three of them would have noticed from where they were sat in the class. After a couple minutes Marinette watched Nino reach out under their table and put a steadying hand on his knee. The bouncing stopped, Nino didn’t remove his hand, and Adrien didn’t make any motions to knock him away. 

The last bell had him out of the class before any of them could stop to talk to him.

Marinette fell back on her bed hard after getting home. She needed sleep, now, or she was going to stop functioning altogether. Tikki pet her hair in a soothing motion. 

“Once you get some rest you’ll feel better Marinette.” The girl in question made a rather pathetic whining sound.

“I don’t think I can. I’m so tired, but all of Adrien’s weirdness today has me worried.” Oh my god, did she just call Adrien weird? She groaned at her ceiling. “First Chat, now Adrien. Why can’t I have friends that cause me less worry, Tikki? Next thing I know Alya will be doing concerning things too, like deleting the Ladyblog!” The kwami gave her a warm smile.

“Oh, I don’t think you ever have to worry about that happening.” The little kwami joked. “Sleep, Marinette. It’s nice that you care about your friends like you do, but you’ll never be able to help them if you can’t even function.” Sage advice. Marinette kicked off her shoes and crawled under her covers, Tikki sat beside her humming a soft tone. Her mom would wake her when dinner was ready. She slept fitfully, her dreams plagued with blond haired boys with green eyes.


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir shows up on Marinette's balcony, which settles some of her worry, but he seems a little down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy. I think I edited everything but if you catch something, let me know.
> 
> Also! Feel free to check out my tumblr page (lelektoro). You're welcome to message me anytime.

It seemed that sleep and dinner were just what Marinette needed. Once both were accomplished the girl found herself in a slightly better place. She grabbed her homework and set up her phone to video chat with Alya and Nino. The three friends chatted and worked on their homework together, sometimes going quiet, and other times not even talking about the homework at all and going off on completely different topics. Marinette thought it was cute that Nino and Alya tried to get together to do their work, and it made it more convenient to do these kinds of homework sessions when they were gathered in the same place. Usually they tried to get the four of them together, in the same room, but those were rare occasions as Adrien had such a ridiculous schedule, so video chatting was their next best thing. Most often it was this set up with Marinette face-timing Alya and Nino or the two girls videoing Nino, other times it would be Nino and Adrien videoing the girls. It was a nice system they tried to implement at least once a week, and it worked for all of them. Of course, there were occasions where one person wouldn’t be able to make it in for whatever reason. Typically, Adrien again, because of his schedule.

The three friends decided to wrap it up once it was clear it was getting too late, and Nino had to get home.

“I’ll text Adrien to see if he wants to do anything after school tomorrow. It’s the weekend so he might be free.” 

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah maybe he’ll be feeling better by then, and if not, we could certainly get him out of this weird funk he’s in.” Alya commented. Nino rolled his eyes.

“It’s probably his dad’s fault.”

“Why do you say that?” Marinette questioned.

“Umm, because it always is! Every time his dad gets to him he takes it pretty bad. I mean I’ve never seen him as bad as he was today, but I’m still betting it’s his dad’s fault.”

“Wow, Nino. I knew you didn’t like the guy, but I didn’t know you had it out for him.” Marinette had to agree with Alya there.

“I’m telling you guys,” Nino made wild hand gestures between Alya and Marinette on the screen, “he’s the worst. You don’t see him, or Gabriel, as often as I do, when I’m at Adrien’s it’s dismal. And it’s Gabriel’s fault. Adrien will call me and just tell me to talk to him, and I never ask, but I know it’s because his dad got on his case. It’s probably why he does it, because I just know.” He clarified and as an afterthought added. “Also, Gabriel’s the reason I got akumatized, remember.” Marinette winced, Nino’s never talked about being akumatized to her before. She assumed that he talked about it with Adrien, and maybe Alya, but based off Alya’s look of mild concern, he likely hadn’t.

“Okay.” Alya relented. “you would know better than us I guess, but it’s late and you have to leave, so the rest of this conversation is going to have to wait until tomorrow.” She flashed Marinette a smile and waved, Nino waving too. “Bye girl, have a nice night.”

“Yeah, you too! Night Nino.”

“Night Marinette!” Then the screen went dark as the connection was ended.

Marinette was tidying up her work when she heard a soft thud from above her. Her head snapped up toward her ceiling, narrowing her eyes in concentration, straining to hear anything else. She didn’t, but a quick glance at Tikki, who was also looking up, confirmed that there was indeed a sound from above them a moment ago. Tikki shrugged at her and she huffed, climbing her bed and slowly opening her trap door until she was just able to make out what looked to be feet on her balcony. This probably should have been a worrying find, if she hadn’t recognized the silver toes as belonging to her partner. A side glance to her kwami had Tikki hiding away, as Marinette opened the trap door the rest of the way and popped her head out.

Seeing her partner lifted a significant amount of worry, and as tension left her body she seemed so much lighter then she had been feeling all day, and she knew that she was smiling. She really shouldn’t have worked herself up so much, he missed one patrol, they’ve both missed a few before, civilian life typically getting in the way. Her partner was leaning on the railing of her balcony looking out over the city. He had yet to notice her as she hoisted herself up onto the balcony and sat down on the ground cross-legged watching him. She bit her lip, to try and stop herself from laughing, it wasn’t often that she was able to pull one over on Chat Noir. His hearing was far superior then hers and she was always amazed by the many small things that he could pick up on.

They once played a small game when they were bored with patrol, where she would stand an arm’s length away from him and then cover her mouth and whisper something, he would answer with what he heard, and she would take a step back when he answered correctly. She had gotten a good distance away before they had been interrupted by an akuma, and never retested to see what his limit really was. Maybe next time they were together as Ladybug and Chat Noir she could bring it up again and they could finally get an answer.

Looking at him now she didn’t see any sign of the boy she had grown so fond of over time. Chat was almost always a ball of energy, he was always moving, and he always had a witty comment on the tip of his tongue, or any ridiculous story to make her laugh. His ears and tail moving with him constantly to convey whatever he was feeling. She didn’t really understand what it was that caused them to move and be such a strong extension of his body. Magic, she supposed, really odd magic. They were sensitive too, as he once mentioned that he could feel things that touched them, but otherwise never felt them and forgot they were even there. She didn’t think much of that comment and never thought about it again. However, she had the unfortunate experience of accidently stepping on his tail one time, and the immediate inhumane yelping sound that found its way out of Chat’s throat had shocked her so bad she had fallen over the edge of the roof they were perched on.  She caught herself with her yo-yo and was back up by her partner in the blink of an eye, where she apologized profusely to her incredibly frazzled partner.

After that account she was frequently aware of his tail and had a better understanding of what he had meant. She even watched it sometimes, his ears too. It was clear they reacted to touch and sounds, but his moods were her favourite. Observing the way they reacted to specific moods when he was more emotional, gave her a better idea of how to identify how he was feeling when he was being a little more closed off. She had laughed a solid ten minutes when he expressed his dismay at the fact that he couldn’t control it. His moods were an open book to her, but she’d never know what was going on in his head. Which was fine by her, she’d feel a little bad if her partner couldn’t keep some things to himself.

This was …new though.

He was very still, his ears tucked back a little, and no indication of having heard her. A soft sound was all that was between them and as she picked herself up and cautiously approached her partner she recognized it as purring. She felt her partner tense and the purring sound cut off abruptly once she was leaning on the railing next to him.

Side-eyeing him, she watched as the tension melted away. He propped his chin on his palm and they continued to silently watch the skyline. It reminded her of the time he had found her when they had both been heart broken, but she was sure that wasn’t his issue right now.

A handful of moments later he turned to face her with a soft smile gracing his lips and his arms crossed in front of his chest, leaning with his hip resting on the railing.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed? It’s late you know.” He pointed a clawed finger at her and waggled it a bit. As if he was accusing her of something.

“I would be, but I heard the weirdest sound on my balcony and I had to check it out. Make sure no one was trying to break in, you know.” The right amount of teasing tone in her words and a matching accusatory finger poking Chat in the chest gained her a muffled snicker and a larger smile. Which was much better then whatever was going on earlier.

“I’m sorry if I startled you Marinette,” his sincere reply made her smile until he opened his mouth again, “but if I was a cat burglar I could take you no problem. You’re very small.” He made a gesture with his hand indicating her height, and she smacked it away. “Ah! Maybe not, you’re a force to be reckoned with like Ladybug.” He cheered and bounced back from her, taking a seat on her balcony chair.

 _If only he knew_ , she thought.  

“So, what were you doing here, if not to rob me?”

“Just taking in the view.” He tilted his head back to look up at the few stars that could be seen. “I like to go for runs around Paris when I’m trying to think about stuff, or trying to avoid thinking about stuff.” He mumbled and looked back to her. “It’s calming.” It was, she did the same thing sometimes.

“Does it have to be my balcony though? Why not someone else’s?”

“Sorry.” His ears pressed flat to his head. “I didn’t know it bothered you, I’ll stop.”

“NO! No, I’m sorry,” Marinette hadn’t meant for her questions to sound so harsh, “I don’t mind.” She thought about her words closely before she continued. “This isn’t the first time you’ve been here, I guess I’m just wondering why you keep choosing to come back to my balcony.” When they were together as Ladybug and Chat Noir they kept mostly to rooftops and obscure places and ledges that most people wouldn’t be. They didn’t usually sit on personal balconies. It seemed odd that Chat kept showing up on hers.

“I like it here.” He simply responded as he tucked his legs underneath him to sit cross legged on the chair. She watched as he looked around the small space briefly. “It has a nice feel to it. The view is incredible,” he waved his arm in a dramatic sweeping motion like he was showing a fine piece of art rather than the night sky, “plus your parents run a bakery out of here, so it always smells so nice!” He beamed at her, and wistfully said, “you’re so lucky.”

She snorted at his antics but couldn’t stop her smile. She had heard that one a hundred times from all her friends at one point. It was nice, she could admit that, but it wasn’t as if she ate sweets for every meal. Having them available whenever she wanted them though was great. Chat had a notorious sweet tooth. It had surprised her how intense he was about it. He assured her he ate just fine at home, there just weren’t a lot of sweets, when she gave him a horrified look after he devoured a box of cookies she had brought to patrol once.  He tried to explain how his home was strictly ‘health’ foods, and she made a promise to herself to start bringing treats more often, because that was no way to live.

“Do you want something? I can go grab you some cookies from downstairs if you want.” He perked up at that.

“If it’s okay. I don’t have any money on me now.”

“You’re a superhero, keeping Paris safe is the best payment. I’ll be right back.” She worked her way back through her trap door and crept past her parent’s room, not wanting to wake them up. Once she was in the kitchen she grabbed a plate and started to pile an assortment of baked goods on top, some macaroons, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. She was careful going back up to her balcony, balancing the plate to avoid spilling everything on her bed. Opening the trapdoor, she stood on her bed and offered the plate to Chat Noir. He took the plate as if it was something precious and sat back down on the chair.

“Thanks. This is…this is awesome, Marinette.” Marinette was surprised to hear the softness and hesitation the cat spoke with, he almost sounded sad.

“Are you okay?”

“Hmm?” He looked up at her and then back down on the plate as he picked up a cookie to eat. “Oh yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just had a rough day.” He then proceeded to shove the entire thing in his mouth. “This helps though.” She could barely make out his words with his mouth full and gave him a look. He looked sheepish and swallowed, “Sorry.” She waved it off.

“Is that why you’re out tonight, are you trying to ‘not think about stuff’?” He grimaced, and she felt like she might have overstepped a boundary that she didn’t have as a civilian. If she was Ladybug right now, it would be different. As Ladybug she had a much better relationship with Chat. Obviously. They were each other’s best friends while they were in the suits. They talked about all kinds of stuff, without giving to much away about who they were. Talking about crappy days was a common one. They didn’t know each other’s civilian identities though, and Marinette and Chat Noir had only had a handful of encounters, enough to be friendly, but not that friendly.

He just shrugged.

“Well, I’m going to go to bed now before it gets too late. Are you going to stay much longer? You’re welcome to.” Marinette stated. Chat wiped at his mouth with the back of his wrist to knock off stray crumbs.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to watch the stars a little longer.” He handed out the plate to her which still had treats on it.

“Finish it. Leave the plate, I’ll grab it in the morning.” She looked her partner over briefly. “I’ll be right back.” Chat watched her disappear into the soft glowing light that was coming through the door opening, only to see her pop back up a second later, with a bundle in her arms. “Here, a blanket! I like to look at the stars wrapped in blankets, it’s comfy. I’ll grab this in the morning too.” Chat gratefully accepted the blanket and placed it on the chair next to himself, never putting his plate down.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do all this.” He chuckled, and she waved him off again.

“Goodnight, Chat.”

* * *

 

“Night.” And with that he watched Marinette disappear back into her room and close the door for the night. He finished the food on his plate placing it on the ground next to the chair and looked at the blanket he had just been given. It looked so soft and warm. He wrapped it around himself and laid stretched out on the chair. It was comfy, like she said. Marinette was such a kind and generous person, strong too. He was lucky to have her as a friend. He was glad that she seemed to be more at ease around him as Adrien now.

He could remember how she always used to stutter around him and was never able to form complete coherent sentences, Alya having to speak for her sometimes. It had been cute, but he much preferred it now. She was always so confident and sure of herself, he had felt a little conflicted about why she didn’t want to be around him. He brought it up once to Nino and he just laughed at him saying, ‘of course Marinette likes you, don’t worry about it’. He tried talking to Alya once as well, who just laughed. Nino and Alya were made for one another, he thought.

He felt a little bad about how he had shrugged them off all day. He was so frustrated with modeling and his Father, it had taken a hold of him all day, and the night before. He hadn’t slept the previous night, just paced his room and complained to Plagg, who had been listening intently the entire time. Which he felt said something about what kind of state he had been in, that his kwami had sat and listened only intervening to input small comments here and there. He never expected for everything to have exploded so fast and violently in the way that it did. He was sad that it affected his friends too.

He had gotten a couple texts from Nino after school offering to hang out and do homework, and another to get together tomorrow after school, but he didn’t respond to any of them. Maybe tomorrow.

Most shockingly, he thought, was the fact that at the height of his anger and frustrations with life in general the other night, he wasn’t akumatized. He would have made a great candidate, as Plagg pointed out to try and relax him. Which in hindsight, was probably not the best way to do it, but he knew his kwami meant well, and was just trying to help. Plagg never did so well with emotional situations, he was getting better though, and Adrien was proud of him for it. Plagg had suggested not going out for patrol that night, and he had to agree. There was no way he could have gone out that night and not have had Ladybug notice. He probably would have taken it out on her, the way he was, and she didn’t deserve that.

Returning home from school today, he figured he could just roll up in his bed and sleep until tomorrow, where he would be better and could forget anything happened at all. Those plans had been quickly dashed when Nathalie told him his Father wanted to see him in his office once he walked through the door. Leaving his Fathers office, he felt a little numb, dumping his things in his room. He fed Plagg, transformed and roamed around the city. Which led to Marinette’s balcony. He was glad that she was fine with him coming here, but he felt so stupid that he had never considered how she might have felt about it. It was a little odd to find Chat Noir outside your room, he supposed. But it was really nice here, and he couldn’t imagine ending up anywhere else sometimes.

He had his spots that he frequented with Ladybug, and they were good spots no one else would ever be able to experience, like on the Eifel tower, atop Notre-Dame, and so on, but they could be lonely when she wasn’t there. They were so big, and he was so small. Marinette’s was cozy and warm. The soft glow from her windows and the occasional soft sounds from inside, was what he imagined all homes were supposed to be like. Not large and empty like his always seemed to be.

He dozed off to the thoughts about how tomorrow would be a brand-new day, and things could be different for him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are wondering what went down between Adrien and his Father, stay tuned for the next chapter!


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long. I was doing some traveling and family holiday things. I hope I didn't keep you waiting to long. Enjoy!

Marinette found herself waking up with a fair amount of time to get ready for school and make it on time, without having to rush. That was until she opened the trap door to pick up the blanket and dishes she had given to Chat last night. She was surprised to find the cat still there bundled under the blanket.

He must have accidentally fallen asleep. And de-transformed in the process. All she could see of her partner was the top of his head, all blonde hair sticking up wildly, however the ever-present black cat ears were missing. In their place, Marinette could make out a small kwami that was tangled up in the blonde locks, green eyes seemingly glowing as they stared right at her.

She gave him a little wave and quietly lowered herself back into her room. She proceeded with her morning rituals as planned and kept an ear open trying to catch any form of movement above her, indicating that Chat had woken and left. She was so focused on that, that she hadn’t even noticed the floating black cat until he had settled on her shoulder. She jumped and slapped her hand to her mouth to stop any noise that would worry her parents. Although, hearing her yell probably wouldn’t be very concerning to them, with her coordination they were probably used to it, but when one had two little gods in their room, the less attention the better.

“Plagg!” Tikki admonished. “You should be with your chosen.”

“But he’s sleeping, and I’m hungry.” The little kwami whined, drawing out the last word, dramatically rolling over on his back and clutching at his stomach. “Feed me, Ladybug.” Tikki huffed and glared at her companion as Marinette continued to watch their interaction in the mirror. She couldn’t help but be reminded of her own back and forth with the boy sleeping on her balcony.

“What do you like?”

“Camembert.”

“Marinette! Don’t indulge him, his chosen is perfectly capable of feeding him when he wakes up.”

“It’s alright Tikki, I was going to grab something for Chat before I left, I can grab something for Plagg as well.” She slipped down to the kitchen and fixed up a plate towering with sweet breads, croissants, fruits, and cheeses. Making her way back up to her room she discovered the two kwamis sitting on her desk talking quietly together. “Well, we don’t have camembert, but I brought a pastry with cheese and some brie. I hope that’s okay?”

“That will do.” Plagg zipped up to the plate before she could even present it to him properly, sat atop the food and started to pick through the assemblage until he found his prize. Marinette stared at the small black kwami with an amused expression. Plagg was a sweet little thing, and even though this was only their second time talking to each other properly, she was pretty sure he must be a handful. If half the things that Tikki has told her in the past are true about this little glutton, she did not envy Chat Noir. She had never heard him complain about his kwami before though, so perhaps they made a perfect match.

Marinette balanced the plate and the kwami as she carried them both up to the balcony hatch and quietly peeked her head out again, making sure her partner was still asleep. She had no intentions of meeting the boy behind the mask anytime soon. Sure enough, the boy was still fast asleep and burrowed in the blanket. She placed the plate on the ground next to the old dishes from last night and with a quick after thought grabbed an unopened bottle of water from her desk and placed it next to the food. She gave Chat’s kwami a wave but was ignored as he tried to shove a whole piece of bread in his mouth.

Grabbing her pack and purse, Marinette said good bye to her parents as she hurried out the door for school. She was going to be on time today! Tikki popped her head out of the bag to watch the scenery on the short walk to the school, as she happily munched on a cookie. The dark-haired girl couldn’t help but smile at her kwami.

“Was it nice to see Plagg?” She questioned, genuinely curious. Tikki looked up at her and smiled.

“Oh yes. It’s always nice to see any of the other kwamis, but Plagg and I are a partnership you could say, like Ladybug and Chat Noir. He seemed a little odd though, for just a second, I tried to ask him about it, but then he tried to go through your stuff. He’s much too curious for his own good.” Tikki took a more aggressive bight out of her cookie and Marinette couldn’t help but laugh at her. She got some weird looks from a man she passed on the street who couldn’t see Tikki. “He’ll never change.”

“Sounds like Plagg and Chat are a good match.”

“Of course they are! A kwami and their chosen typically always get along well, because of the qualities that a miraculous holder needs to possess to be trusted with such a precious item. That’s why Master Fu tested you before he gave you your miraculous, he tested Chat Noir as well, just as every holder before you were tested. Plus, he’s lived a long time for a human, he has gotten very good at judging people by now.” 

“What happens if a kwami doesn’t get along with their chosen?”

“It’s very rare, but typically something like that has to do with a disagreement of morals, or something equally as important. In those cases, typically the Guardians of the Miraculous Order step in and separate the two, finding a new miraculous wielder.” Marinette thought about the bond between herself and Tikki, they were very close, and life would be so different without her. She couldn’t imagine what it could even be like to not get along with Tikki. She hadn’t ever thought about what Chat and his Kwami were like, and what their relationship was like. The image of Plagg curled up in her partners hair came to mind, and she warmed knowing that they were close too.

 Tikki ducked back into her hiding place in Marinette’s bag as they rounded the corner and Alya came into view, talking to Nino by the stairs. They waited outside the building for as long as they could to wait for Adrien, but he never showed up. They went inside and found their seats, Alya talking excitedly about some new features she wanted to add to the Ladyblog. They all quieted down once class began and the day went past smoothly. Lunch didn’t present any new gossip or drama, and Nino passed along that Adrien had texted him during class to say he was home sick and he’d see them on Monday.

Marinette felt the rest of the tension leave her body that she hadn’t realize she was still carrying. Being sick explained why Adrien was so off the day before. Alya offered a small comment about her friends worry from the day previous as they made their way to the rest of their classes for the day. Nino pouted and dismayed about the plans he had with Adrien for the weekend being ruined.

Once the final bell rang Marinette couldn’t help but feel like a Rockstar. She was on time today, had a great day with her friends, hadn’t had to deal with an akuma during class, and now it was the weekend.

Racing home Marinette greeted her parents and snagged a few snacks. Dumping her bag on her floor she climbed up to the balcony, the once occupied deck chair was now empty except for the blanket neatly folded up on top of it. The plates were also neatly stacked and empty of food. Hmm, she’d never expected Chat was so tidy. She gathered the dishes in one hand and grabbed the blanket with the other, throwing it down the small opening into her room, and steadily making her way down the ladder of her bed, with the dishes. Once they were cleaned and in their proper places in the cabinets, she raced back to her desk to get her class work done, to have a free weekend. She left Physics work for last.

She glared the worksheet down like it was Hawkmoth himself once she finally got to it. Tikki tried to help encourage her, but it didn’t matter, she would never be good at physics. It mocked her. Marinette’s mother called her for dinner and Tikki was sure she had never seen her so grateful in all the time she knew her. What a silly girl, she thought fondly.

Tikki watched Ladyblog videos on Marinette’s computer as her chosen ate with her family. Particularly proud of one from two weeks ago, where Marinette had gotten a rubber band for her lucky charm and shot it at the akuma they were facing, hitting them right in the forehead. The akuma was startled by the hit and reeled their head back in shock, throwing off their balance and falling over, allowing Chat to grab the akumatized item off their person. It was on replay.

She was so drawn to the video she offered little attention to Marinette coming back in the room. She did notice the nicely sized piece of chocolate cake that was placed in front of her, however.

She ate the cake as her chosen went back to staring at her work. Five minutes later Tikki was nestled on her shoulder watching the girl write down answers only to erase them a second later. Ten minutes after that Marinette gave up and pushed it as far away as possible. Grumbling about going for a run under her breath.

“Tikki, spots on!”

She swung on her yoyo through the streets of Paris, enjoying the air, and waving to people who walked below her when they spotted her. As she got closer to the tower she could make out the shape of her partner settled about half way up. She adjusted her direction and made her way to him. He was eating some takeaway, and waved in greeting, as she sat next to him. She made to grab a few chips from his food container and he swatted at her hand.

“Get your own dinner.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” She chided and successfully liberated a couple of the chips.

“Hey! I’m hungry, I didn’t have lunch today you know.” He pouted at her and scooted a bit to his left. Not that it would do anything as he was still an arm’s length away from her.

“What? Why?”

“I skipped school. So I didn’t have a lunch period.” He shrugged.

“You skipped school? I thought you liked school.” She waited for him to finish chewing.

“I do.” He finished off the rest of the chips and set the takeaway container to the side. Clapping his hands together to rid them of crumbs.

“Then why did you skip?”

“I overslept and figured, ‘oh well, I’m already late, might as well not go at all’.” She hadn’t even thought about that this morning. Chat had still been asleep when she left, but it never occurred to her that he should have been up for school like her.

It was odd. She knew Chat was her age, he loved school, loved physics (because he was the worst), did after school stuff, had friends he loved to hang out with, and even had a job, from talking to him on slower nights. But she didn’t know when his birthday was, why he loved physics, what kind of after school things he was involved in, what any of his friends were like, what his job was, and so on. They were very careful not to give too much personal information away. She felt she knew him, but at the same time how much did she really know?

She knew all the impersonal information about him. His favourite colour was blue, he was a natural blonde, he loved croissants, had never had a cat before and only started to like them after becoming Chat Noir, he read the Ladyblog, and he had a surprisingly good knowledge of fashion she never expected. The list went on, and she was sure he could recite one about her as well.

She trusted him with her life and counted him as a best friend, just like Alya, and she knew he felt the same, but had never considered how much information was missing. She didn’t often think of Chat Noir that much outside of the suit. Occasionally, she did, like the other day, when she had been worried, but not often. It appeared as if she had very successfully separated the superhero part of her life from the normal teenaged girl part of her life. And she had done the same to her partner, he only existed in her mind as Chat Noir, hero of Paris, her partner, never who he could be underneath all of that.

“Being late is a bad reason to skip school, Chat.” If she skipped school every time she was late, she’d never graduate.

“Yeah, well, I just didn’t want to go.”  Marinette stared at the boy beside her. He was tense again, like last night. His hands gripping the edge of the platform they were sitting on. If he wasn’t wearing gloves she was positive his knuckles would be stark white. She didn’t like this newer side of Chat, first last night, now tonight. She couldn’t even pinpoint an emotion. Was he frustrated, upset, sad? She put a hand on his back and he flinched, holding his breath.

“Hey,” she said softly, “what’s going on with you?” He shrugged her off and looked down below them, he didn’t look at her.

“Nothing.”

“That’s not true. Something is obviously bothering you. For a couple days now, too.” He looked at her then.

“How would you know?” She blinked in confusion, before she realized that yesterday when she saw him she was Marinette, not Ladybug. Oops.

“You didn’t show up to patrol Wednesday night.” She figured that counted. He gave her a weird look.

“I don’t always show up for patrol.”

“I know. I just had a feeling like something was wrong when you never showed up though.” Which was true. “Plus, now you’re being defensive and argumentative, and skipping school, all of this just doesn’t sound like you.” It was quiet between them for a long time as he avoided looking at her again.

“I’m sorry.” He finally whispered. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

“It’s okay, Chat. I just- I don’t know what’s going on with you right now. You don’t have to tell me what’s going on, but I’m here for you.”

“I know.” He fidgeted, still not looking at her. “We vent to each other all the time.” He anxiously chewed on his lip, and it got quiet between them again.

“How about we focus on doing our route for now.” She watched him nod at her suggestion and she stood. He gathered his trash and pulled his baton from his back, extending it until it hit the ground and lowered himself down to discard the empty takeaway as Ladybug swung above him. He was quick to catch up to her. They went about their patrol at a leisurely pace, but completely silent. It felt so wrong to have Chat so quiet during patrol, or in general. All of her concern from the previous night came crawling back. She had hoped that he would shake it off once patrol started and they would be bantering back and forth, like they always did.

It was getting late when he finally spoke to her. They had finished their route for the night and stopped on a roof top with a nice view of the seine.

“I don’t know if I can tell you.”

“Why do you think that?” He sighed and found something very interesting about his claws.

“It’s personal… family…” He shrugged again, as she considered this.

“I think as long as you don’t say anything revealing about your identity then it’s okay.” Maybe he didn’t even want to talk about this. Ladybug has talked about her family on a few occasions, she never said anything obvious, for the same reason she warned Chat Noir, but she’d talk about how great her mom cooked and how amazing her dad baked and tell stories from when they did silly things. Chat always listened to her stories closely, but he never offered up his own. He’s never mentioned his family for as long as she’s known him. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I think I want to.” He laid back on the roof, his legs dangling off the edge. “I don’t tell people much about my family because there isn’t much to tell.” She laid down next to him, looking at the sky.  “It’s just my father and I now, my mom isn’t…around anymore, so it’s just us. He’s not around much and we don’t talk a lot ‘cause he’s busy with work. He was busy when my mom was still around too, but he was happy. Ever since my mom, he’s distant. I don’t know how else to put it. We live in the same house, but I think I only see him like twice a week.” Marinette couldn’t imagine how lonely that must feel. “He’s also very strict, I have to be perfect at everything I do, and I have to do a lot, because it builds character, or something, I don’t know.”

“But the job I have is working for his company, and Wednesday I was at work, but I was really tired, so I wasn’t doing as good a job as I could have, and the dir-“ he paused, “the guy I was working with called my Father and told him I didn’t do well I guess, because when I got home my Father was waiting for me asking why I didn’t ‘perform well.’” she saw him make quotes in the air out of the corner of her eye. “We basically got into it, yelling and screaming at each other, which has never happened before, I don’t even talk back, I’m too afraid of being grounded. But I snapped, and he snapped, I think he was drinking, he uh,” he sat back up and she followed, watching as he rubbed his arm, “he grabbed me when we were fighting, and it hurt. It hurt a lot, it bruised.” Marinette felt her breath catch in her throat as she listened, eyes darting down to where he was rubbing his arm. She was unsure if he knew he was doing it, as words continued to tumble from his mouth.

“There was this vase on a shelf next to me, a little vase, I threw it at him, it missed, I wasn’t really looking where it was going, it hit the wall and shattered, and he let go of me. I ran to my room and stayed there the rest of the night. The next day was weird, I didn’t see him in the morning, the broken vase was still on the ground, went to school, couldn’t really focus, came back and his secretary told me he wanted to see me in his office. So, I went, and he sat there, and he lectured me about my work the day previous, he said I wasn’t good enough, and if I didn’t do better there would be problems. He acted as if nothing had happened the day before.”

“That’s a lot to take in.”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t told anyone about it yet and once I started I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Don’t be sorry Chat.” She laid her hand on his shoulder and he looked at her. “I had no idea you were dealing with this. Is your arm okay?” His eyes flickered briefly to his forearm and back up to meet hers, for the first time since he started to talk to her. And he nodded.

“It’s just bruises.”

“Has he hurt you before?” It felt weird asking. She’s never had to ask anyone if their parents hurt them before, much less a friend. He shook his head.

“We barely talk or see each other enough for that. Though I’d never have thought he’d hurt me to begin with. He can be scary. My best friend thinks he’s the worst and he’s scary, but I’ve never been afraid of him. But that night and when I went to his office, I was scared of him, Ladybug. I used to wonder if I was important to him, if he even cared about me sometimes, and now I’m not sure he ever did to begin with.” His voice cracked and that was all it took for him to completely break down.

She held him close and tight as sobs shook his body. She wasn’t sure how long she held him for, but when he calmed down and pulled away, her shoulder had a wet spot, and his eyes were puffy and shiny. His ears were flat against his head and he looked so small the way that he was hunched in on himself. She held onto his shoulder and wiped his face dry with her other hand. He started to purr, and he leaned his head on her shoulder again.

“I’m sorry. I can’t control it. I just start doing it when I’m upset.” She rubbed his back in soothing circles and held the nape of his neck.

“Please stop apologizing, Chat. You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“I should go.” He untangled himself from her hold and stood.

“Are you sure? Are you okay going back home right now?” She felt conflicted having heard him confess all of that, only to have him go back home.

“It’s okay. I’m staying at a friend’s.” Good, she thought. She got up and brushed herself off before pulling her partner in one more time for a hug before they went their separate ways.  

* * *

 

Once Marinette was back in her room she collapsed on her bed. Tikki was quick to eat and return to her side, resting on her stomach. She felt in such a daze.

“Tikki? Did that really happen?” She lifted her head to get a better view of her kwami, who looked at her with large sorrow filled eyes. That was all she needed to know that it had. Her partner, her loving, silly, kindhearted Chat was living a life that she would have never guessed. Granted he said that his dad had never hurt him before, but that didn’t change the neglect that was happening previous to this. She couldn’t imagine not talking to or seeing her parents any less then she did now, she would feel so lonely. And Chat said he was lucky to see him once a week. Not to mention telling your own child that he wasn’t good enough! Clearly, he wasn’t aware of what an amazing child he had. He was afraid, he didn’t feel safe in his own home. She wondered how long its’s been since he has felt at home in his house. She wouldn’t feel at home, it sounded so cold and barren the way he talked about it.

 She wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that she had not known until now or knowing and not being sure what to do about it. Maybe she could look up options online in the morning. She had so many more questions. What kind of help was he currently getting? Was he getting help at all? He said she was the first person he told. Was that about this incident, or his home life in general? She sniffled as all the overwhelming thoughts and questions plagued her mind at once and she curled up with Tikki.

Only to end up tossing and turning. Her phone said it was early in the morning, her parents would be up soon to start prepping the bakery for a day of business.

She needed fresh air to clear her head.

She immediately regretted it once she was on her balcony, looking at Chat Noir asleep on her deck chair, like the night before. She was quick and quiet to go back down and produce the same blanket to drape over his sleeping form.

So much for fresh air.

So much for staying at a friend’s.

What were they going to do? She fought for Paris, she was a superhero, she was Ladybug, she did things no one else could dream of, but this seemed like something she wouldn’t be able to handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! Feel free to check out my tumblr page (lelektoro). You're welcome to message me anytime.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment or don't it's up to you!


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